As the oil and gas industry is developing and looking to various ways for generating and producing the energy, the role of the compressors, gas turbines, electrical motors is increasing. For example, in order to transport the natural gas from the production site to the consumers, the natural gas is liquefied for reducing its volume. The process of liquefying the natural gas heavily relies on the use of compressors. Other examples are the transport of CO2, the extraction of the oil and/or gas from the wells, the transport of the carburant through pipes, the processing of the crude oil in the refineries.
Therefore, during the past years, there is an increased interest in producing these machines (compressors, gas turbines, motors, etc.) in a more efficient way. One approach for manufacturing these machines, which have large (from tons to tens or hundredths of tons) casings, stators, rotors and other components, is to cast these components.
Casting is a manufacturing process by which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which may contain a core of a desired shape, and then the casting material is allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting. The casting is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process. Casting materials are usually metals. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods. Such complex shapes may include voids, cavities, tunnels, etc. A compressor, for example, includes these complex shapes.
Thus, in order to achieve such complex shapes, the core is provided inside the mold for determining the voids, cavities, tunnels, etc. However, such cores may be heavy, especially when the machine to be casted is large. Thus, a support element is used to hold the core inside the mold. Such a support element is called a chaplet. The chaplet may be used to support the core from bottom, or to anchor it from the top to prevent the floating of the core when the casting is poured into the mold. A large number of chaplets may be used to prevent the cores from moving during assembly and during pouring.
However, the chaplets may not adhere well to the material that is casted into the mold. Thus, when the formed part, for example, the casing of the machine, is tested for leaks it may fail as leaks could be present between the chaplet, which is now part of the casing, and the neighboring parts of the casing. If this is the situation, the chaplets that do not fuse with the casing have to be drilled out of the casing and plugged or welded at machine shops. This process slows down the manufacturing process of the machine, and adds cost, which is undesirable. After fixing the leaking chaplets, the casing is checked out again for leaks prior to the final assembly of the machine. A hydro test may be performed to determine the leaks.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods that ensure that the chaplet fully adheres to the casting material so that no leaks exist between the chaplet and the casing.